


A little colder than normal

by NonfatsugarCUBE



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Sickfic, Swearing, dadvid, i love how that's a tag, kind of MomGwen, not maxvid ya weirdies, probably less-than-canon swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-12 18:29:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19950865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NonfatsugarCUBE/pseuds/NonfatsugarCUBE
Summary: Takes place the day after the S2 Christmas episodeHe'd planned on setting up a trap not far from camp; something simple, of course, he didn't feel like staying out in the snow for too long (Really though, snow in the middle of summer!? What kind of sick joke was nature trying to pull here?). He'd lead David into it under the guise of having found a nice place for some stupid Christmas Camp activity and... I don't know, leave him for Gwen to find? He tended to form his best plans on the fly, so he never put too much thought into exactly what he would do. He always managed to find a way to ruin everyone else's day, especially Gwen and David's, and that's all he could ask for. Though, it wasn't like he could do anything now - he walked for about two minutes and immediately got lost.





	A little colder than normal

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

In hindsight - and only ever in hindsight - it was a stupid fucking idea.

"Oh yeah, _sure,_ why not run off into the forest? It's not like the only landmarks you actually remember are covered in a fucking _foot_ of _snow_ \- noooo, you won't get lost at all!"

Max was literally yelling at himself. He felt like an idiot, but he was pissed and he needed to yell at _something_. If he was lucky, which he really wasn't, maybe someone would hear him. Or he'd get eaten by wolves. Either one would work. 

He'd planned on setting up a trap not far from camp; something simple, of course, he didn't feel like staying out in the snow for too long (Really though, snow in the middle of summer!? What kind of sick joke was nature trying to pull here?). He'd lead David into it under the guise of having found a nice place for some stupid Christmas Camp activity and... I don't know, leave him for Gwen to find? He tended to form his best plans on the fly, so he never put too much thought into exactly what he would do. He always managed to find a way to ruin everyone else's day, especially Gwen and David's, and that's all he could ask for. Though, it wasn't like he could do anything now - he walked for about two minutes and immediately got lost.

He didn't expect the forest to look completely different. I mean, _obviously, it's covered in snow, what would you expect?_ Somehow his brain didn't connect the dots that he wouldn't be able to see any of the paths or particular groups of plants that he had come to begrudgingly recognize in the area around this little nightmare of a camp. His house was in an area that didn't snow all that much in the winter, maybe an inch or so every once in a while, and it's not like his parents cared enough to take him on any of their "family" trips. Really, this was the most snow he'd ever seen in one place before, besides on TV. He should have asked Neil or Nikki to come along, he thought grumpily to himself. Neil could MacGyver some crazy machine out of sticks and rocks that'll somehow lead them home, or Nikki could... I dunno, _smell_ her way back? He wouldn't be surprised if the green-haired girl was actually a wolf disguised as a human. But _nooo_ , they were both busy with their fancy new 'Christmas in Summer' celebrations, so he decided that he'd be better off doing this alone - and what good _that_ did him, right?

"Yup. Good thinking, Max. You really outdid yourself with this one."

A shiver worked it's way up his spine and made his teeth chatter. Great. Now he was freezing. He shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets and kept walking in the direction that he _thought_ was back to camp... though, now, he's pretty sure it wasn't. Turning around was a stupid idea at this point, he'd just get even _more_ lost, but the trees around him were starting to get a little more crowded and he was definitely sure they didn't grow this close together around the camp.

Ugh, whatever, he'll just... turn left? That was the way to the lake, right? Yeah, if he can make it to the lake, he should be able to see the docks - then he can just follow that path back up to the camp! It can't be too hard to find, it's a giant lake after all.

The overcast sky had started to grow an orange tint by the time Max realized that he should have found the lake by now.

His entire body had developed a constant and annoying shiver, making it progressively harder to focus on his surroundings. He was actually starting to feel numb to the cold, though, which was... good? Probably bad, actually, but at least he didn't feel so cold anymore. Max: 1, Nature:... Hell, probably a lot more than one.

Looking ahead, Max saw what appeared to be a long, slender clearing that twisted off into the distance... almost like a path! Maybe he was going the right way after all! He couldn't help but release a shaky sigh of relief; he may hate camp with all his being, but _man he could really go for a hot coffee right now._ Or maybe a hot chocolate? He was sure that whatever was passing for hot chocolate in the camp was nowhere near the real thing, but he'd never actually tried it before. Maybe it didn't taste half bad? He wondered if anyone had noticed he was missing, it had been quite a few hours and-

The ground cracked under Max's feet, and every thought in his brain stopped in light of his sudden horrifying realization.

This wasn't a path.

It was a _river,_ frozen over and covered in snow.

His first reaction was to _get the fuck out of there as fast as possible,_ but the sudden movement of his attempted escape only provided the last amount of pressure needed to break through the icy coating. 

For a moment, Max's brain completely short-circuited. He was, in more ways than one, _frozen._ He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He couldn't feel. Was this what it was like to die? Was he actually dead?

The first thing that returned was feeling, and Max immediately realized that he wasn't dead yet - though he wished he was. He felt cold, but not like any cold he had felt before. He was so cold he felt like he was _burning alive._

The next wonderful quality of life that he was capable of experiencing was thought. He had enough of a brain to realize that the water wasn't actually that deep, at least not where he fell, and he wasn't fully submerged in water. That being said, he was lying flat on his back and there was definitely water _everywhere_ , so he didn't feel particularly grateful. His body was clumsy and uncoordinated as he hurried his way onto dry land, his shaking so intense that - for a few dazed moments - he thought he might have been in the middle of an earthquake. He felt like his blood had suddenly been drained and replaced with molasses, but he didn't stop until he finally stumbled out of the clearing.

That was when he realized he was still holding his breath.

His first inhale was like dragging nails against a chalkboard, desperate and painful, and Max couldn't help the ugly-sounding coughing fit that resulted from it. He doubled over in pain and exhaustion, the feeling of snow on his fingers nothing compared to the pure hell that the rest of his body was going through as large clouds of frozen breath escaped from his mouth. 

He was going to fucking die out here in the middle of this frozen shithole because he got lost on a _walk_. He was a moron. _Useless._ This wouldn't have happened to anyone else. He was barely aware of his breathing getting quick and shallow. He was _actually_ going to freeze to death out here, all alone. Even if anyone was looking for him, who knows where he had ended up after all his aimless wandering? He could be miles away from the camp at this point.

His breath hitched painfully, starting another coughing fit. Everything _hurt_. Claws were raking down his throat at every breath of icy air, and his body felt like it was being simultaneously frozen and dunked in boiling water.

"There's that sound again!"

Max could have sworn he heard a voice in the distance. Oh good, he was going crazy. Maybe that's what happens when your brain starts shutting down from the cold - you start hearing and seeing things. He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want the last thing he saw to be some hallucination.

"I think it was over here!"

Hell, it's getting louder. It sounds way too real.

"Holy fuck- _Max?!_ "

Wait, that voice _was_ real. And it sounded familiar.

He tried to open his eyes - really, he did - but his body refused to cooperate. He wouldn't be surprised if the residual water froze over his eyes. At this point, he was barely even able to stay upright, and could only listen as the bushes rustled around him and footsteps hurried in his direction.

"Max! A-are you okay? Where have you been!?"

His mouth felt numb, like it was made of cold rubber. He was barely able to mumble out, "N-Neil..?" between his lack of feeling and incessant shaking.

"Y-Yeah! Yeah, it's N-Neil!" He sounded shaken up. Or maybe he was cold too?

"Hey, look over there!" That was Nikki. Nikki was there too.

Max's brain finally caught up to what was going on. They _found_ him. They must have been actually looking for him, because there was no way he was anywhere close to the camp. He still was fully aware that he might die before they all get back, but the knowledge that they actually noticed his disappearance and cared enough to go out and find him brought a little bit of warmth in his body - unfortunately, not the kind of warmth that would _actually_ warm him up, he realized as his shivering picked up again.

"Holy shit, did you fall in the river?!"

The freezing child couldn't help but chuckle, because _of course he fell in the river, what else could have happened?_ Fuck, it hurt to breathe. His throat vibrated painfully, and the claws returned as another bout of coughing tore its way out of his chest.

"W-Whoa, whoa, okay, um," Neil stuttered for a few seconds before somewhat composing himself, "Nikki, go get Gwen. Like, _right now."_

"What's wrong with him?" Nikki's voice had a hint of concern, which was quite honestly far more than Max had ever heard from her. He must really look terrible.

"He's got hypothermia- just go! Now!"

"Is he dying?"

" _NIKKI!"_

"Okay! Got it!"

One pair of feet scampered off into the distance, signaling Nikki's departure.

"O-Okay, um..." Neil breathed some shaky words to himself. Max could easily imagine how the boy looked - he had this weird habit of holding his hands up like a raptor when he was nervous, and his eyes would dart to and fro as if desperately looking for anything else to focus on that wasn't another human being.

At this point, the panic of probably being close to death and the relief of being found by his friends were both wearing off pretty quickly, and Max was starting to realize exactly how tired he was. It was a whole-body tiredness, like he had just run a marathon and then immediately done a bunch of push-ups. His arms were threatening to give out, so in some strange last desire to save face, he decided he was gonna purposely lie down in the snow before he collapsed like an idiot. Make it seem like he wanted to. To be honest, he didn't exactly want to stay upright anyway.

"U-uh, Max, I really don't think you should do that. You're cold enough as it is, a-and you might fall asleep."

 _Oh yeah? What's your brilliant plan, then?_ Max thought. Maybe he said it. He couldn't really feel his face anymore now that it was laying against the snow.

"We need to get you back to camp, but there's no way I could carry you... H-Hey, Max? You need to stay awake, okay?"

 _Stay awake?_ It was kind of hard to do that when you literally don't even have the strength to open your eyes - hell, if he were dreaming right now he wouldn't know any different.

Neil seemed panicked by his lack of response. Crap, he forgot to reply. "Max? U-Uh, _Max?_ Are you-" 

He suddenly stopped talking. There were a few moments of silence where it almost seemed that the entire forest had quieted down. He stopped hearing the wind rustle the leaves, or the water that splashed through the hole he had fallen into.

"Gwen! Over here, quick!" 

Neil's voice sounded like it was yelling, but somehow seemed quieter than it had before.

Max felt his consciousness pulling him away, out of the cold and into a tranquil nothingness. He wasn't falling asleep, at least he didn't think so, but his shivering body was slowly becoming farther away and he readily welcomed the escape. The cold couldn't reach him anymore, and neither could the voices desperately shouting his name.

Everything was quiet.

**Author's Note:**

> This sounds slightly less than okay.
> 
> Don't worry, he'll be fine... Eventually


End file.
